Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Chapter 1689: Flight of the Dark Butterfly

46. Flight of the Dark Butterfly

Sword intent flared across The Bastion Wall.

Alexander materialized abruptly within Kaelen’s quarters. According to his senses, the boy’s presence had vanished without a trace. There was no enemy attack, no surge of magic, no ripple of arcane arts. The disappearance was instantaneous and absolute.

Orion had personally entrusted Kaelen to The Bastion Wall. Alexander took that responsibility seriously.

"Did he go there?"

Alexander stared at the empty room, his gaze piercing past the physical architecture to the boundary between reality and the void.

Before he could reach out, Orion’s telepathic voice answered his unspoken question.

"The Dark Butterfly Race has an inherent mastery over illusions and dream arts. Because the boy possesses such a potent talent, Blackstone City actively pulled him in."

Normally, entering Blackstone City required two strict conditions: initiating the transition through a dream, and securing Orion’s explicit permission. Kaelen, however, was an anomaly. He possessed the pure bloodline of a Stoneheart Titan coupled with the dream-weaving talent of the Dark Butterfly Race. He was exactly the kind of asset Blackstone City desperately needed.

His disappearance was a massive boon—both for him and for the city.

...

On the threshold between reality and the void, Kaelen felt as though he had slipped into a lucid dream. He had taken the form of a Dark Butterfly.

With every beat of his wings, ripples tore through the fabric of space and time. Thick fog parted before him, only to swallow him back up. He flew straight through solid walls and plunged into the dense mist, crossing into an entirely alien domain.

Where am I?

The unknown didn’t frighten him. Deep within the suffocating fog, he sensed a familiar bloodline resonance.

It was his father’s aura.

Curiosity overrode any panic.

Why am I here?

Wasn’t I just at The Bastion Wall?

What is this place?

Questions tumbled through his mind as he flew. A Dark Butterfly—its wings like spun ink, the arcane runes on its veins pulsing with ancient, abyssal light—bobbed and weaved through a world of gauze and smoke.

Silence ruled Blackstone City.

The Dark Butterfly appeared high above the spires, drifting slowly downward.

Deep underground, Lorelia, fully engrossed in incubating her brood, suddenly snapped her eyes open. She stared at the ceiling of the cavern. In her mind’s eye, she didn’t see rock and earth; she saw the butterfly descending from the sky.

A Dark Butterfly? Is that the Fourth Prince?

Did Master send him to play with me?

No. That’s not Master’s style. He wouldn’t do something like that.

Lorelia sprang to her feet, a spark of pure joy in her eyes. In this strange, isolated world, having a familiar face around sounded wonderful.

Moments later, the butterfly circled the tallest spire in Blackstone City. Just as it prepared to land, a delicate, pale hand reached out and caught it mid-air.

"Hehe, Kaelen, what are you doing here?"

Lorelia brought her hand closer, her wide, beautiful eyes inspecting the insect. Seeing its distinct markings, she was absolutely certain it was Orion’s son, Kaelen.

The butterfly froze. Panic flared in its compound eyes as it looked up at Lorelia. But the panic quickly melted into relief and joy.

It instinctively fluttered its wings to greet her. Realizing his form, Kaelen pushed off her palm, flew into the air, traced a figure-eight, and shifted back into his Stoneheart Titan form.

"Lorelia, is that really you?"

Kaelen hesitated to step closer. The Lorelia standing before him felt both intimately familiar and completely alien.

She was taller. Her hair was longer. She carried an air of maturity, blending an elegant poise with an alluring charm she never used to possess. More importantly, she stood atop an elaborate, breathtaking throne.

In Kaelen’s memory, the Lorelia of Blackstone City didn’t have this strange, regal aura. To him, she was just the girl who liked to tease people and sleep all day.

"What? Your sister gets a little prettier, and you pretend not to know her?"

Unable to hold back, Lorelia flew forward. She reached out with both hands and ruthlessly pinched his cheeks.

In truth, she had perfected this habit on Pallas. Ever since Caelus, Kronos, Pallas, and Kaelen fully awakened their Stoneheart Titan bloodlines, the four brothers shared a striking resemblance. They all carried echoes of Orion’s features. Lorelia simply transferred the habit she developed with Pallas onto the others.

"Lorelia, it is you!"

Feeling the familiar, merciless pinch, Kaelen finally relaxed. He stepped forward, letting her squish his face as much as she wanted.

"Hehehe... good boy."

Only when she was thoroughly satisfied did she let him go.

"Come on! I’ll take you to pick some fruit!"

Without another word, Lorelia grabbed Kaelen’s hand and dragged him toward the Wishing Tree at the summit.

"Lorelia, where exactly are we? It feels like Blackstone City, but everything looks different."

Kaelen didn’t resist. He trusted Lorelia completely. Not only was she his father’s contracted companion with deep ties to their family, but she had practically been raised by Lilith. In the hierarchy of the Stoneheart Horde, above the four Titan Princes sat the two Witches: Elara and Lorelia. Either of them could keep the princes in line effortlessly.

"It is Blackstone City!" Lorelia chirped. "It just got a little upgrade. It’s bigger, stronger, and way more comfortable for us to live in."

A normal person might have missed the subtext, but Kaelen understood instantly.

Lorelia was a broodmother. Kaelen was an Insect King. Blackstone City was built directly over a broodmother’s hive. This was essentially their home turf.

Orion and the Will of the Realm hadn’t intercepted Kaelen precisely because of this dynamic. Lorelia, the broodmother, could manage the internal logistics and spawn an endless tide of dream-attribute insectoids. Kaelen, the Insect King, could lead that swarm to conquer new territories and secure resources for Lorelia, Blackstone City, and the entire Horde.

"Is this really Blackstone City?" Kaelen was still in disbelief. It wasn’t that he doubted Lorelia; the environment simply contradicted his memories.

He remembered clearly: there was no colossal, sky-blotting tree behind the city. The lands beyond the walls used to be a deforested plain. Now, an endless sea of pitch-black fog surrounded the city, radiating an aura that made his heart pound with unease.

"Yep! No mistake about it!"

Lorelia dismissed his concerns entirely. She only cared about showing off the Wishing Tree. She wanted to see if the tree would drop fruit for him, and what kind of bizarre treasures the fruit would turn into once he touched them.

"If this is Blackstone City..." Kaelen murmured, a terrifying thought striking him. "Then what happened to the Blackstone City in the North?"